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Boston Bruins
=Boston Bruins= The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the United States. It is also an Original Six franchise, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins have won six Stanley Cup championships, the fourth most all-time and second most of any American NHL team (behind the Red Wings, who have 11). Their home arena is the TD Garden, where they have played since 1995. Prior to 1995, the team played its home games at the Boston Garden for 67 seasons, beginning in 1928. The Bruins are the reigning Stanley Cup champions, having defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. It is their first Stanley Cup championship since 1972. edit] History edit] The Pre-World War II years In 1924,1 at the convincing of Boston grocery tycoon Charles Adams, the National Hockey League decided to expand to the United States. Adams had fallen in love with hockey while watching the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals between the NHL champion Montreal Canadiens and the WCHL champion Calgary Tigers. He persuaded the NHL to grant him a franchise for Boston, which occurred on November 1, 1924. With the Montreal Maroons, the team was one of the NHL's first expansion teams. Adams' first act was to hire Art Ross, a former star player and innovator, as general manager. Ross was the face of the franchise for the next thirty years, including four separate stints as coach. Adams directed Ross to come up with a nickname that would portray an untamed animal displaying speed, agility, and cunning. Ross came up with "Bruins", an Old English word used for brown bears (from the Dutch 'bruin' meaning brown) in classic folk-tales. The team's bearlike nickname also went along with the team's original uniform colors of brown and yellow, which came from Adams' grocery chain, First National Stores.2 On December 1, 1924, the new Bruins team played their first NHL game against the Maroons, at Boston Arena, with the Bruins winning the game by a 2–1 score. But the team only managed a 6–24–0 record (for last place) in its first season. They played three more seasons at the Arena, after which the Bruins became the main tenant of the famous Boston Garden,3 while the old Boston Arena facility—the world's oldest existing indoor ice hockey venue—was eventually taken over by Northeastern University, and renamed Matthews Arena when the university renovated it in 1979. In their third season, 1926–27, the team markedly improved. Ross took advantage of the collapse of the Western Hockey League to purchase several western stars, including the team's first great star, a defenseman from Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan named Eddie Shore. The Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Final despite finishing only one game above .500, but lost to the Ottawa Senators in the first Cup Final to be between exclusively NHL teams. In 1929 the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers to win their first Stanley Cup. Standout players on the first championship team included Shore, Harry Oliver, Dit Clapper, Dutch Gainor and goaltender Tiny Thompson. The 1928–29 season was the first played at Boston Garden, which Adams had built after guaranteeing his backers $500,000 in gate receipts over the next five years. The season after that, 1929–30, the Bruins posted the best-ever regular season winning percentage in the NHL (an astonishing .875, winning 38 out of 44 games, a record which still stands) and shattered numerous team scoring records, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Cup Final. The 1930s Bruins teams included Shore, Thompson, Clapper, Babe Siebert and Cooney Weiland. The team led the league's standings five times in that decade. In 1939, the team changed its uniform colors from brown and yellow to the current black and gold, and captured the second Stanley Cup in franchise history. That year, Thompson was traded for rookie goaltender Frank Brimsek. Brimsek had an award-winning season, capturing the Vezina and Calder Trophies, becoming the first rookie named to the NHL First All-Star Team, and earning the nickname "Mr. Zero". The team skating in front of Brimsek included Bill Cowley, Shore, Clapper and "Sudden Death" Mel Hill (who scored three overtime goals in one playoff series), together with the "Kraut Line" of center Milt Schmidt, right winger Bobby Bauer and left winger Woody Dumart. In 1940 Shore was traded to the struggling New York Americans for his final NHL season. In 1941 the Bruins won their third Stanley Cup after losing only eight games and finishing first in the regular season. It was their last Stanley Cup for 29 years. edit] World War II and the "Original Six" era World War II affected the Bruins more than most teams; Brimsek and the "Krauts" all enlisted after the 1940–41 Cup win, and lost the most productive years of their careers at war. Cowley, assisted by veteran player Clapper and Busher Jackson, was the team's remaining star. Even though the NHL had by 1943 been reduced to the six teams that would in the modern era be called the "Original Six", talent was depleted enough that freak seasons could take place, as in 1944, when Bruin Herb Cain would set the then-NHL record for points in a season with 82. But the Bruins did not make the playoffs that season, and Cain was out of the NHL two seasons later. EnlargeMilt Schmidt, a Hockey Hall of Famer and the captain of the Bruins in the early 1950s.The stars returned for the 1945–46 season, and Clapper led the team back to the Stanley Cup Final as player-coach. He retired as a player after the next season, becoming the first player to play twenty NHL seasons, but stayed on as coach for two more years. Brimsek proved to be not as good as he was before the war, and after 1946 the Bruins lost in the first playoff round three straight years, resulting in Clapper's resignation. Brimsek was traded to the last-place Chicago Black Hawks in 1949, followed by the unexpected lifetime ban of promising young star Don Gallinger on suspicion of gambling. The only remaining quality young player who stayed with the team for any length was forward Johnny Peirson, recognizable to fans of a later era as the Bruins' television color commentator in the 1970s. During the 1948–49 season, the original form of the "spoked-B" logo, with a small number "24" to the left of the capital B signifying the calendar year in the 20th century in which the Bruins team first played, and a similarly small "49" to the right of the "B", for the then-current season's calendar year in the 20th century,4 appeared on their home uniforms—a nod to the Boston area's nickname of "The Hub". The following season, the logo was modified into the basic "spoked-B" form that was to be used, virtually unchanged (except for certain proportions within the logo), through the 1993–94 season. The 1950s began with Charles Adams' son Weston (who had been team president since 1936) facing financial trouble. He was forced to accept a buyout offer from Walter A. Brown, the owner of the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics and the Garden, in 1951. Although there were some instances of success (such as making the Stanley Cup Final in 1953, 1957 and 1958, only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens each time), the Bruins mustered only four winning seasons between 1947 and 1967. They missed the playoffs eight straight years between 1960 and 1967. In 1954, on New Year's Day, Robert Skrak, an assistant to Frank Zamboni, the inventor of the best known ice resurfacing machine of the time, demonstrated a very early model of the machine at Boston Garden to the team management, and as a result, the Bruins ordered one of the then-produced "Model E" resurfacers to be used at the Garden, the first known NHL team to acquire one of the soon-to-be-ubiquitous "Zambonis" for their own use. The Bruins' Zamboni Model E, factory serial number 21—used as late as the 1980s on an emergency basis—eventually ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 1988 for preservation.5 On January 18, 1958, a milestone in NHL history occurred as the first black person ever to play in the NHL stepped onto the ice for the Bruins, New Brunswick-born left wing Willie O'Ree. He played in 45 games for the Bruins over the 1957–58 and 1960–61 seasons, scoring six goals and ten assists in his NHL career. During this period, the farm system of the Bruins was not as expansive or well-developed as most of the other five teams. The Bruins sought players not protected by the other teams, and in like fashion to the aforementioned signing of Willie O'Ree, the team signed Tommy Williams from the 1960 Olympic-gold medal winning American national men's hockey team—at the time the only American player in the NHL—in 1962. The "Uke Line"—named for the Ukrainian heritage of Johnny Bucyk, Vic Stasiuk and Bronco Horvath — came to Boston in 1957 and enjoyed four productive offensive seasons, heralding, along with scoring stalwarts Don McKenney and Fleming MacKell, the successful era of the late 1950s. There followed a long and difficult reconstruction period in the early, mid 1960s. edit] Expansion and the Big Bad Bruins Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death and set about rebuilding the team. Adams signed a defenseman from Parry Sound, Ontario, named Bobby Orr, who entered the league in 1966 and became, in the eyes of many, the greatest player of all time. He was announced that season's winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year and named to the Second NHL All-Star Team. When asked about Orr's NHL debut game, October 19, 1966, against the Detroit Red Wings, then-Bruins coach Harry Sinden recalled: :"Our fans had heard about this kid for a few years now. There was a lot of pressure on him, but he met all the expectations. He was a star from the moment they played the national anthem in the opening game of the season". The Bruins then obtained young forwards Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from Chicago in a deal that was celebrated as one of the most one-sided in hockey history. Hodge and Stanfield became key elements of the Bruins' success, and Esposito, who centered a line with Hodge and Wayne Cashman, became the league's top goal-scorer and the first NHL player to break the 100-point mark, setting many goal- and point-scoring records. Esposito remains one of four players to win the Art Ross Trophy four consecutive seasons (the other three are Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe). With other stars like forwards Bucyk, John McKenzie, Derek Sanderson and Hodge, steady defenders like Dallas Smith and goaltender Gerry Cheevers, the "Big Bad Bruins" became one of the league's top teams from the late 1960s into the 1980s. EnlargeOrr jumps in the air after scoring the game winning overtime goal to win the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals. The image is widely considered to be one of the most famous in hockey history.In 1970, a 29-year Stanley Cup drought came to an end in Boston, as the Bruins defeated the St. Louis Blues in four games in the Final. Orr scored the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch the Stanley Cup. The same season was Orr's most awarded—the third of eight consecutive years he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL—and he won the Art Ross Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, the only player to ever win four major awards in the same season. "No one, absolutely no one, could have finished a goal in like manner. For years Orr had been described as someone who was graceful, elegant, powerful, without fear—poetry in motion. All these epithets were captured and immortalized in the photos of the goal that won the 1970 Stanley Cup". 6 The 1970–71 season was, in retrospect, the high watermark of the Seventies for Boston. While Sinden temporarily retired from hockey to enter business (he was replaced by ex-Bruin and Canadien defenseman Tom Johnson) the Bruins set dozens of offensive scoring records: they had seven of the league's top ten scorers—a feat not achieved before or since—set the record for wins in a season, and in a league that had never seen a 100-point scorer before 1969, the Bruins had four that year. All four (Orr, Esposito, Bucyk and Hodge) were named First Team All-Stars, a feat matched in the expansion era only by the 1976–77 Canadiens. Boston were favored to repeat as Cup champions, but ran into a roadblock in the playoffs. Up 5–1 at one point in game two of the quarterfinals against the Canadiens (and rookie goaltender Ken Dryden), the Bruins squandered the lead to lose 7–5. The Bruins never recovered and lost the series in seven games. While the Bruins were not quite as dominant the next season (although only three points behind the 1971 pace), Esposito and Orr were once again one-two in the scoring standings (followed by Bucyk in ninth place) and they regained the Stanley Cup by defeating the New York Rangers in six games in the Finals. Rangers blueliner Brad Park, who came runner-up to Orr's (then) five-year monopoly on the Norris Trophy, said, "Bobby Orr was—didn't make—the difference". The 1972–73 season saw upheaval at the Bruins. Former head coach Sinden became the general manager. Bruins players Gerry Cheevers, Derek Sanderson and Johnny McKenzie left to join the upstart World Hockey Association.7 Coach Tom Johnson was fired fifty-two games into the season, replaced by Bep Guidolin, who had once coached Orr. The Adams family, which had owned the team since its founding in the 1920s, sold it to Storer Broadcasting. The Bruins' season came to a premature end in a first-round loss to the Rangers in the 1973 playoffs, losing Esposito to injury in that first round.8 In 1974, the Bruins regained their first place standing in the regular season, with three 100-point scorers on the team (Esposito, Orr, and Hodge). However they loss the 1974 Final in an upset to the Philadelphia Flyers. Don Cherry stepped behind the bench as the new coach in 1974–75. The Bruins stocked themselves with enforcers and grinders, and remained competitive under Cherry's reign, the so-called "Lunch Pail A.C"., behind players such as Gregg Sheppard, Terry O'Reilly, Stan Jonathan and Peter McNab. This would also turn out to be Orr's final full season in the league, before his knee injuries worsened, as well as the last time that Orr and Esposito would finish 1-2 in regular season scoring. The Bruins placed second in the Adams Division, and lost to the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round of the 1975 playoffs, losing a best-of-three series, two games to one. Continuing with Cherry's rebuilding of the team, the Bruins traded Esposito and Carol Vadnais for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi to the Rangers. That trade was particularly controversial for both Bruins and Rangers fans, as Esposito was one of the most popular Bruins players (though it was known that he disagreed with Cherry's coaching), while Park and Ratelle were Rangers stalwarts.9 However Boston ending up got the better of the trade, as Esposito never reached his previous scoring highs with the Rangers due to a less talented supporting cast, while Ratelle maintained his skill level with the Bruins. Particularly it was Park who reemerged as one of the league's best defencemen and filled the void left by Orr, who had been sidelined by surgery at the start of 1975-76 and only managed to play ten games before being injured and lost for the rest of the season.10 The Bruins made the semifinals again, losing to the Flyers. As an impending free agent, contract talks with Orr and his agent Alan Eagleson had been tumultuous throughout 1975-76. Although insurers would not underwrite Orr and doctors advised that he could not play much longer, the Bruins still attempted to re-sign Orr and offered him a five-year deal at US$925,000 or 18.6 percent ownership of the club in 1980. However, Eagleson turned down the offer on Orr's behalf, instead signing him to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1976; Orr was never effective and retired after many knee operations in 1979. Cheevers returned from the WHA in 1977, and the Bruins got past the Flyers in the semifinals, but they were swept by the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals. The story repeated itself in 1978—with a balanced attack that saw Boston have eleven players with 20+ goal seasons, still the NHL record—as the Bruins made the Final once more, but lost in six games to the Canadiens team that had recorded the best regular season in modern history. After that series, Johnny Bucyk retired, holding virtually every Bruins' career longevity and scoring mark to that time. The 1979 semifinal series against the Habs proved to be Cherry's undoing. In the deciding seventh game, the Bruins, up by a goal, were called for having too many men on the ice in the late stages of the third period. Montreal tied the game on the ensuing power play and won in overtime. Never popular with Harry Sinden, by then the Bruins' general manager, Cherry was dismissed as head coach but was later hired in the same capacity with the Colorado Rockies. At Madison Square Garden, on December 23, 1979, a New York Rangers fan stole Stan Jonathan's stick, hitting him with it during a post-game scrum. When other fans got involved, Terry O'Reilly charged into the stands followed by his teammates. The game's TV commentator remarked that "they're going to pull that guy apart". O'Reilly, a future team captain, received an eight-game suspension for the brawl. TV Clip edit] The Eighties and Nineties Boston Bruins logo (1949–1995). Primary logoBoston Bruins logo (1949–1995). Primary logo, used on white jersey.Boston Bruins logo (1955–1995). Secondary logoBoston Bruins logo (1955–1995). Secondary logo, used on black jersey.Boston Bruins logo (1955–1957Boston Bruins logo (1955–1957, 1959-1965). Secondary logo, used on gold jersey.Coupled with front-office dislike of Cherry's outspoken ways, 1979 saw new head coach Fred Creighton—himself replaced by a newly-retired Cheevers the following year. Trading Ron Grahame to Los Angeles, the Bruins in return received a first round pick which turned out to be eighth overall to draft Ray Bourque, one of the great defenseman of all-time and the face of the Bruins for over two decades.11 The Bruins made the playoffs every year through the 1980s behind stars such as Park, Bourque and Rick Middleton—and had the league's best record in 1983 behind a Vezina Trophy–winning season from ex-Flyer goaltender Pete Peeters—but always fell short of making the Finals. Bourque, Cam Neely and Keith Crowder led the Bruins to another Cup Final appearance in 1988 against the Edmonton Oilers.12 The Bruins lost in a four-game sweep, but a memorable moment in the would-be fourth game ensued, when in the second period with the game tied 3–3, a blown fuse put the lights out at the Boston Garden. The rest of the game was cancelled and the series shifted to Edmonton. The Oilers completed the sweep, 6–3, back at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton in what was originally scheduled as Game Five. The event is considered to be the reason the Bruins began work on a new stadium. Boston returned to the Stanley Cup Final in 1990 (with Neely, Bourque, Craig Janney, Bobby Carpenter and rookie Don Sweeney, and former Oiler goalie Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin splitting goaltending duties), but again lost to the Oilers, this time in five games. EnlargeRay Bourque led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 1988 and 1990.In 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994, they defeated their Original Six arch-nemesis Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs, getting some revenge for a rivalry which had in recent decades been lopsided in the Canadiens' favor in playoff action. In 1991 and 1992, they suffered two consecutive Conference Final losses to the eventual Cup champion, the Mario Lemieux–led Pittsburgh Penguins. Since the 1993 season, Boston had not gotten past the second round of the playoffs despite the talent of Adam Oates, Rick Tocchet and Jozef Stumpel. The 1993 season ended disappointingly for several reasons. Despite finishing with the second-best regular season record after Pittsburgh, Boston was swept in the first-round by the Buffalo Sabres. During the postseason awards ceremony, Bruin players finished as runner-up on many of the honors—Bourque for the Norris, Oates for the Art Ross and Lady Byng Trophy, Joe Juneau (who had broken the NHL record for assists in a season by a left-winger, a mark he still holds) for the Calder Trophy, Dave Poulin for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, Moog for the William M. Jennings Trophy, and coach Brian Sutter for the Jack Adams Award, although Bourque made the NHL All-Star First Team and Juneau the NHL All-Rookie Team. The 1995 season would be the Bruins' last at the Boston Garden. The final official match played in the Garden was a 3–0 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 playoffs; the Bruins went on to play the final game at the fabled arena on September 28, 1995, in an exhibition matchup against the Canadiens. They subsequently moved into the FleetCenter, now known as the TD Garden. In 1997, Boston missed the playoffs for the first time in thirty years (and for the first time in the expansion era), having set the North American major professional record for most consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Historically, their most bitter rivals have been the Montreal Canadiens, whom the Bruins have played a record thirty-three times in the playoffs. The Bruins also have a rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers and were rivals to the now relocated Hartford Whalers. edit] The 21st century EnlargeBoston Bruins Logo: 1995–2007.After a 3–4–1 start, the Bruins fired head coach Pat Burns and went with Mike Keenan for the rest of the way. Despite a fifteen-point improvement from the previous season, the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2000–01 by just one point, and Keenan was let go. Leading scorer Jason Allison led the Bruins. The following season, 2001–02, the Bruins improved again with another thirteen points, winning their first Northeast Division title since 1993 with a core built around Joe Thornton, Sergei Samsonov, Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin, Mike Knuble and the newly acquired Glen Murray. Their regular season success did not translate to the postseason, as they lost in six games to the underdog eighth-place Canadiens in the first round. The 2002–03 season found the Bruins platooning their goaltending staff between Steve Shields and John Grahame for most of the season. A mid-season trade brought in veteran Jeff Hackett. In the midst of a late-season slump, general manager Mike O'Connell fired head coach Robbie Ftorek with nine games to go and named himself interim coach. The Bruins managed to finish seventh in the East, but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils in five games. In 2003–04, the Bruins began the season with ex-Toronto Maple Leaf goalie Felix Potvin. Later in the season, the Bruins put rookie Andrew Raycroft into the starting role. Raycroft eventually won the Calder Award that season. The Bruins went on to win another division title and appeared to get past the first round for the first time in five years with a 3–1 series lead on the rival Canadiens. The Canadiens rallied back, however, to win three straight games, upsetting the Bruins. The 2004–05 NHL season was wiped out by a lockout, and the Bruins had a lot of space within the new salary cap implemented for 2005–06. Bruins management eschewed younger free agents in favor of older veterans such as Alexei Zhamnov and Brian Leetch. The newcomers were oft-injured, and by the end of November, the Bruins team traded their captain and franchise player, Joe Thornton (who went on to win the Art Ross and Hart Trophies). In exchange, the Bruins received Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau from the San Jose Sharks. After losing ten of eleven games before the trade, the Bruins came back with a 3–0 victory over the league-leading Ottawa Senators, as rookie goaltender Hannu Toivonen earned his first career NHL shutout. When Toivonen went down with an injury in January, journeyman goalie Tim Thomas started sixteen straight games and brought the Bruins back into the playoff run. Two points out of eighth place at the Winter Olympic break, the Bruins fired general manager Mike O'Connell in March and the Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. Peter Chiarelli was hired as the new GM of the team. Head coach Mike Sullivan was fired and Dave Lewis, former coach of the Detroit Red Wings, was hired to replace him. The Bruins signed Zdeno Chara, one of the most coveted defensemen in the NHL and a former NHL All-Star, from the Senators, and Marc Savard, who finished just three points short of a 100-point season in 2005–06 with the Atlanta Thrashers, to long-term deals. The 2006–07 season ended in the team finishing in last place in the division. The Bruins traded Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau to the Calgary Flames for Andrew Ference and forward Chuck Kobasew. edit] Rejuvenation in Boston Zdeno CharaZdeno CharaTim ThomasTim ThomasAfter the disappointing 2007 season, Lewis was fired as coach, and the Bruins announced on June 21, 2007, that former Canadiens/Devils head coach Claude Julien had been named as the new head coach.13 The Bruins also unveiled a new logo, and a brand new shoulder patch closely based on the main jersey logo used until 1932.14 The 2008 campaign saw the Bruins regain some respectability, finishing 41–29–12 and making the playoffs. The season ended on a bright note for the Bruins when they forced the Canadiens to play a seven-game playoff series, including a memorable Game 6 in which Boston came back to win 5–4. Their performance, despite a 5–0 loss in the seventh game, rekindled interest in the team in New England, where the Bruins had for years been heavily overshadowed by the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics, all of whom had recently won championships in their league. Although Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was injured with a concussion most of the season, youngsters Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Vladimir Sobotka and Petteri Nokelainen showed promise in the playoffs. After a slow start to the 2008–09 season, the Bruins won seventeen of their next twenty games leading many to see them as a revival of the "Big Bad Bruins" from the 1970s and '80s. During the 2009 All-Star Weekend's Skills Competition, captain Zdeno Chara fired the NHL's fastest measured "hardest shot" ever, with a clocked in speed of 105.4 mph (169.7 km/h) velocity. The number of injured players in the season saw many call-ups from the Bruins' AHL Providence Bruins farm team, with rookie defenseman Matt Hunwick and forward Byron Bitz seeing success. The Bruins went on to have the best record in the Eastern Conference and qualified for the playoffs for the fifth time in nine years, facing the Canadiens in the playoffs for the fourth time during that span, defeating them in four games before losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. The 2009 summer off-season saw the departure of long-time defensive forward P.J. Axelsson from Sweden, who signed a multi-year contract15 with his hometown Frolunda HC team. With Maple Leafs G.M. Brian Burke threatening an offer sheet and Bruins management unable to meet his salary demands, forward Phil Kessel was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a trio of future draft picks. On January 1, 2010, the Bruins won the 2010 NHL Winter Classic over the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2–1 overtime decision at Fenway Park, thus becoming the first home team to win an outdoor classic game. However, following the New Year's Day game, the Bruins, hobbled by injuries, would go through a five-week long period of lackluster play, with only two wins and compiling ten regulation losses earning them only eight points in the Eastern Conference standings in that 15-game long period, before breaking the losing streak in an away game against the Canadiens on February 7, with Tuukka Rask shutting out the Habs 3–0. The win over the Canadiens was the first of four successive victories leading into the break in play for the NHL's participation in the 2010 Winter Olympics, and established Tuukka Rask as the number one goaltender for the Bruins, as Tim Thomas would only start eight of the 22 games remaining in the post-Olympic period of the season, with Rask winning eight of his post-Olympic starts, including two shutouts. Thomas was on the silver-medal winning US team, with Patrice Bergeron on the gold-medal-winning Canadian team. The importance of former Sabre forward Daniel Paille's acquisition by the Bruins, and his emergence as a penalty killing forward, was emphasized on April 10, 2010, as Paille, Steve Begin, and Blake Wheeler combined for the first-ever known trio of short handed goals within one penalty kill, in only 1:04 of game time, in a home game against the Carolina Hurricanes, helping the Bruins to sixth place in the NHL Eastern Conference, and a 2010 NHL playoff opening round appearance against the Buffalo Sabres, which they won 4 games to 2 games. Boston became only the third team in NHL history to lose a playoff series after leading 3–0 when they lost in Game 7 to the Philadelphia Flyers after losing a 3–0 lead in the second round on May 14, 2010, also losing the services of Marco Sturm in the first game and playmaking center David Krejci to injury in the third game of the series. Many credit the loss of these two players as the turning point of the series. The epic defeat of the Bruins at the hands of the Flyers in the 2010 playoffs, however, would be avenged the following year. On April 13, 2010 the Boston Bruins received the second overall draft pick for the 2010 draft that was held in Los Angeles, CA at the Staples Center, selecting Tyler Seguin in the first round on June 25, 2010, with Greg Campbell and Nathan Horton joining the team, with Vladimir Sobotka and Dennis Wideman leaving the Bruins in the 2010 summer off-season. After the season ended on June 16, 2010, Cam Neely was named the new team president of the Bruins.16 edit] The Sixth Cup EnlargeMilan Lucic holds the Stanley Cup after the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the finals, their first since 1972.On February 15, 2011, the Bruins acquired center Chris Kelly from the Ottawa Senators after Savard's attempted comeback ended due to another concussion; this one delivered in Colorado by former Bruin Matt Hunwick. Ottawa received the Bruins' second-round pick in 2011. Just two days later and on the brink of the trade deadline, the Bruins acquired defenseman Tomas Kaberle in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for prospect Joe Colborne, a first-round selection in 2011, and a potential second-round pick in 2012 (which became official on May 27 when the Bruins clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals). Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler were also traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik. In the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins became the first team in NHL history to win a 7-game series without scoring a power-play goal, as they eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in 7 games, and also won their first playoff series after trailing 2 games to none. On May 6, the Bruins swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992. Boston then defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 to face the Vancouver Canucks. The Bruins lost the first two games of the series in very close contests, 1–0, on a goal with less than 19 seconds left in regulation, and then 3–2 in overtime. Game 3 did not start well for the Bruins either, as they lost Nathan Horton to injury at the 5:07 mark of the first period following a late hit by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome that left Horton prone on the ice for nearly 10 minutes. Despite losing Horton to a devastating hit, the Bruins defeated the Canucks, with 4 goals in each of the second and third periods, twice scoring short-handed goals, and going on to win, 8–1. It was the highest score by one team, and largest winning margin, in a Finals game since 1996. Game 4 saw the Bruins defeating the Canucks in a 4–0 shutout. The home team continued to be the winner, with Game 5 in Vancouver going to the Canucks in a 1–0 shutout, then Game 6 going to the Bruins, who staved off elimination with a 5–2 defeat of the Canucks. The Bruins set a new record for the quickest four goals ever in a playoff series game, scoring in only 4:14 of game time in the first period of Game 6. Game 7, which was played in Vancouver on June 15, was the first time the Bruins have ever played in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins shut out Vancouver 4–0, winning the sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history and breaking a 39-year Cup drought. The 2010-11 Bruins were the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 three times in the same playoff run. edit] Ownership EnlargeBruins legend and current president Cam Neely, and owner Jeremy Jacobs.The Adams family, which had owned the team since its founding in the 1920s, sold it to Storer Broadcasting in 1972-73. In August 1975, Storer Broadcasting then sold the team to an ownership group headed by Jeremy Jacobs. Jacobs had to promise to keep Bobby Orr as a condition of the purchase.17 The Bruins and Orr reached a verbal agreement with the Jacobs during the summer of 1975, including a controversial agreement for Orr to take an 18.5% share of the Bruins after his playing days were over. The agreement was to be checked out as to whether it would be legal for tax reasons and whether or not the league would approve it. However Orr's agent Alan Eagleson rejected the deal on behalf of his client, so Jacobs remained owner of the team.18 Jacobs represents the club on the NHL's Board of Governors, and serves on its Executive Committee, and he has chaired the Finance Committee. At the NHL Board of Governors meeting in June 2007, Jacobs was elected Chairman of the Board, replacing the Calgary Flames' Harley Hotchkiss, who stepped down after 12 years in the position. He has frequently been listed by Sports Business Journal as one of the most influential people in sports in its annual poll19 and by Hockey News.20 Jacobs company owns the TD Garden and he is partners with John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox, in the New England Sports Network (NESN). After taking over as owner in 1975, the Bruins have been competitive (making the playoffs for 29 straight seasons from 1967-68 to 1995-96, 20 of which were with Jacobs as owner) but have won the Stanley Cup only once, in 2011 and only in his 36th year as owner. Under previous ownerships, the Bruins had won the Stanley Cup five times. Under Jacobs, the Bruins have reached the Stanley Cup Final five times (twice against the Bruins' arch-rival Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978, twice against the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 and 1990, finally winning in 2011 against the Vancouver Canucks). Jacobs's management of the team in the past earned him spots on ESPN.com's "Page 2" polls of "The Worst Owners in Sports",21 and No.7 on their 2005 "Greediest Owners In sports" list.22 Sports Illustrated has suggested that longtime star defenseman Ray Bourque, who "often drawn the ire of the NHLPA for his willingness to re-sign with Boston with minimal negotiations over the years" instead of setting the "watermark for defenseman salaries", requested and received a trade in 2000 since the team's "hardline and spendthrift ways" meant that he would have to make the move to get his elusive Stanley Cup (Bourque holds the record for most games played before winning the Cup). 23 Prior to the new collective bargaining agreement signed in 2005, fans felt team management was not willing to spend to win the Stanley Cup.24 Since 2005, Jacobs's public image has improved as he invested in the team and rebuilding the front office to make the team more competitive. The Bruins were the second highest ranked team in the NHL in the 2008–2009 season and were the top seeded team in the East. With a complete change in management including new General Manager Peter Chiarelli, Coach Claude Julien and Cam Neely's appointment as President, which subsequently led to the Bruins' Stanley Cup victory in 2011. The current administrators in the Bruins front office are: *Jeremy Jacobs: Owner *Charlie Jacobs: Principal *Peter Chiarelli: General Manager *Cam Neely: President25 *Harry Sinden: Senior Advisor to the Owner edit] Unofficial theme songs When Boston television station WSBK-TV began broadcasting Bruins games in 1967, station managers wanted a suitable piece of music to air for the introduction of each game. Because the Boston Ballet's annual Christmas performance of The Nutcracker had become closely identified with Boston, The Ventures' instrumental rock version of the Nutcracker's overture, known as "Nutty", was selected as the opening piece of music for Bruins telecasts.26 The song "Nutty" has been identified with the Bruins ever since, and is still sometimes played at the TD Garden during Bruins games. On ice, "Paree", a 1920s hit tune written by Leo Robin and Jose Padilla, has been played as an organ instrumental for decades, typically as the players entered the arena just before the start of each period and, for many years, after each Bruins' goal. It was introduced by John Kiley, the organist for the Bruins from the 1950s through the 1980s, and is still played during Bruins' games.27 "Kernkraft 400 (Sport Chant Stadium Remix)" by Zombie Nation has been played for a number of seasons now after every Bruins goal scored on home ice, after two short blasts of a Kahlenberg KM-135 replica boat horn. After every Bruins' win at the TD Garden, "Dirty Water", by the Standells, is played. Quincy's Dropkick Murphys wrote their song "Time to Go" as a Bruins rally tune. Although it did not come with the band's guarantee to help bring home a championship, as they did with their song "Tessie" for the Red Sox, it is still a part of the team's culture and is played during third period TV timeouts. Wiz Khalifa's song Black and Yellow, originally about the black and yellow color schemes of the three main Pittsburgh sports teams (the Pirates, Penguins and Steelers), has been unoficially adopted by some Bruins fans, with some making cover versions and posting them online.28 Bruins winger Brad Marchand sang the song during the Bruins Championship parade and rally.29 edit] Season-by-season record This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Bruins. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Boston Bruins seasons Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against edit] Players edit] Current roster *view *talk *edit Updated December 16, 2011.30 edit] Honored members edit] Hall of Famers—players *Marty Barry, C, 1929–35, inducted 1965 *Bobby Bauer, RW, 1935–52, inducted 1996 *Leo Boivin, D, 1954–66, inducted 1986 *Raymond Bourque, D, 1979–2000, inducted 2004 *Frank Brimsek, G, 1938–49, inducted 1966 *Johnny Bucyk, LW, 1957–78, inducted 1981 *Billy Burch, LW, 1932–33, inducted 1974 *Gerry Cheevers, G, 1965–80, inducted 1985 *Dit Clapper, LW/D, 1927–47, inducted 1947 *Sprague Cleghorn, D, 1925–28, inducted 1948 *Paul Coffey, D, 2000–01, inducted 2004 *Roy Conacher, LW, 1938–45, inducted 1998 *Bun Cook, LW, 1936–37, inducted 1995 *Bill Cowley, C, 1935–47, inducted 1968 *Cy Denneny, LW, 1928–29, inducted 1959 *Woody Dumart, LW, 1935–54, inducted 1992 *Phil Esposito, C, 1967–76, inducted 1984 *Fernie Flaman, D, 1944–50 & 1954–61, inducted 1990 *Frank Frederickson, C, 1926–28, inducted 1958 *Busher Jackson, LW-D, 1941–44, inducted 1971 *Tom Johnson, D, 1963–65, inducted 1970 *Duke Keats, C, 1926, inducted 1958 *Guy Lapointe, D, 1983–84, inducted 1993 *Brian Leetch, D, 2005–06, inducted 2009 *Harry Lumley, G, 1957–60, inducted 1980 *Mickey MacKay, C, 1928–1930, inducted 1952 *Sylvio Mantha, D, 1937, inducted 1960 *Joe Mullen, RW, 1995–96, inducted 2000 *Cam Neely, RW, 1986–96, inducted 2005 *Harry Oliver, C, 1926–34, inducted 1967 *Bobby Orr, D, 1966–76, inducted 1979 *Brad Park, D, 1975–83, inducted 1988 *Bernie Parent, G, 1965–67, inducted 1984 *Jacques Plante, G, 1973, inducted 1978 *Babe Pratt, D, 1946–47, inducted 1966 *Bill Quackenbush, D, 1949–56, inducted 1976 *Jean Ratelle, C, 1975–81, inducted 1985 *Terry Sawchuk, G, 1955–57, inducted 1971 *Milt Schmidt, C, 1936–55, inducted 1961 *Eddie Shore, D, 1926–40, inducted 1947 *Babe Siebert, D, 1933–36, inducted 1964 *Hooley Smith, C, 1936–37, inducted 1972 *Allan Stanley, D, 1956–58, inducted 1981 *Nels Stewart, RW-D, 1933–37, inducted 1962 *Tiny Thompson, G, 1928–39, inducted 1959 *Cooney Weiland, C, 1928–32 & 1935–39, inducted 1971 edit] Hall of Famers—builders *Charles Adams, President, 1924–36, inducted 1960 *Weston Adams, Sr., Director; President, 1936–51, inducted 1972 *Walter A. Brown, President, 1951–64, inducted 1962 *Murray Costello, former player 1955-57, inducted builders category 2005 *Frank Patrick, Head coach, 1934–36, inducted 1958 *Art Ross, Head coach; General Manager, 1924–54, inducted 1945 *Harry Sinden, Head coach; General Manager; President; Senior Advisor, 1966–present, inducted 1983 edit] Retired numbers *'2' Eddie Shore, D, 1926–40, number retired January 1, 1947 *'3' Lionel Hitchman, D, 1925–34, number retired February 22, 1934, first professional hockey player to have number retired *'4' Bobby Orr, D, 1966–76, number retired January 9, 1979 *'5' Aubrey "Dit" Clapper, LW/D, 1927–47, number retired February 12, 1947 *'7' Phil Esposito, C, 1967–75, number retired December 3, 1987 *'8' Cam Neely, RW, 1986–96, number retired January 12, 2004 *'9' Johnny Bucyk, LW, 1957–78, number retired March 13, 1980 *'15' Milt Schmidt, LW, 1936–55, number retired March 13, 1980 *'24' Terry O'Reilly, RW, 1972–85, number retired October 24, 2002 *'77' Ray Bourque, D, 1979–2000, number retired October 4, 2001 The Bruins also honor the NHL's league-wide retirement of Wayne Gretzky's #99. edit] First-round draft picks *1963: Orest Romashyna (3rd overall) *1964: Alex Campbell (2nd overall) *1965: Joe Bailey (4th overall) *1966: Barry Gibbs (1st overall) *1967: Meehan Bonnar (10th overall) *1968: Danny Schock (12th overall) *1969: Don Tannahill (3rd overall), Frank Spring (4th overall), & Ivan Boldirev (11th overall) *1970: Reggie Leach (3rd overall), Rick MacLeish (4th overall), Ron Plumb (9th overall), & Bob Stewart (13th overall) *1971: Ron Jones (6th overall) & Terry O'Reilly (14th overall) *1972: Mike Bloom (16th overall) *1973: Andre Savard (6th overall) *1974: Don Larway (18th overall) *1975: Doug Halward (14th overall) *1976: Clayton Pachal (16th overall) *1977: Dwight Foster (16th overall) *1978: Al Secord (16th overall) *1979: Ray Bourque (8th overall) & Brad McCrimmon (15th overall) *1980: Barry Pederson (18th overall) *1981: Normand Leveille (14th overall) *1982: Gord Kluzak (1st overall) *1983: Nevin Markwart (21st overall) *1984: Dave Pasin (19th overall) *1986: Craig Janney (13th overall) *1987: Glen Wesley (3rd overall) & Stephane Quintal (14th overall) *1988: Robert Cimetta (18th overall) *1989: Shayne Stevenson (17th overall) *1990: Bryan Smolinski (21st overall) *1991: Glen Murray (18th overall) *1992: Dmitri Kvartalnov (16th overall) *1993: Kevyn Adams (25th overall) *1994: Evgeni Ryabchikov (21st overall) *1995: Kyle McLaren (9th overall) & Sean Brown (21st overall) *1996: Johnathan Aitken (8th overall) *1997: Joe Thornton (1st overall) & Sergei Samsonov (8th overall) *1998: None *1999: Nick Boynton (21st overall) *2000: Lars Jonsson (7th overall) & Martin Samuelsson (27th overall) *2001: Shaone Morrisonn (19th overall) *2002: Hannu Toivonen (29th overall) *2003: Mark Stuart (21st overall) *2004: None *2005: Matt Lashoff (22nd overall) *2006: Phil Kessel (5th overall) *2007: Zach Hamill (8th overall) *2008: Joe Colborne (16th overall) *2009: Jordan Caron (25th overall) *2010: Tyler Seguin (2nd overall) *2011: Dougie Hamilton (9th overall) edit] Franchise scoring leaders These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season. ''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Bruins player'' edit] NHL awards and trophies Stanley Cup *1928–29, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1969–70, 1971–72, 2010–11 Presidents' Trophy *1989–90 Prince of Wales Trophy *1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2010–11 Art Ross Trophy *Phil Esposito: 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74 *Bobby Orr: 1969–70, 1974–75 *Joe Thornton*: 2005–06 (* traded to the San Jose Sharks during the 2005–06 season) Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy *Charlie Simmer: 1985–86 *Gord Kluzak: 1989–90 *Cam Neely: 1993–94 *Phil Kessel: 2006–07 Calder Memorial Trophy *Frank Brimsek: 1938–39 (trophy known as "Calder Trophy") *Jack Gelineau: 1949–50 *Larry Regan: 1956–57 *Bobby Orr: 1966–67 *Derek Sanderson: 1967–68 *Ray Bourque: 1979–80 *Sergei Samsonov: 1997–98 *Andrew Raycroft: 2003–04 Conn Smythe Trophy *Bobby Orr: 1969–70, 1971–72 *Tim Thomas: 2010–11 Frank J. Selke Trophy *Steve Kasper: 1981–82 Hart Memorial Trophy *Eddie Shore: 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38 *Bill Cowley: 1940–41, 1942–43 *Milt Schmidt: 1950–51 *Phil Esposito: 1968–69, 1973–74 *Bobby Orr: 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72 *Joe Thornton*: 2005–06 (* traded to the San Jose Sharks during the 2005–06 season) Jack Adams Award *Don Cherry: 1975–76 *Pat Burns: 1997–98 *Claude Julien: 2008–09 James Norris Memorial Trophy *Bobby Orr: 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75 *Ray Bourque: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94 *Zdeno Chara: 2008–09 King Clancy Memorial Trophy *Ray Bourque: 1991–92 *Dave Poulin: 1992–93 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy *Bobby Bauer: 1939–40, 1940–41, 1946–47 *Don McKenny: 1959–60 *John Bucyk: 1970–71, 1973–74 *Rick Middleton: 1981–82 Lester B. Pearson Award *Phil Esposito: 1970–71, 1972–73 *Bobby Orr: 1974–75 Lester Patrick Trophy *Charles F. Adams: 1966–67 *Walter A. Brown: 1967–68 *Eddie Shore: 1969–70 *Cooney Weiland: 1971–72 *John Bucyk: 1976–77 *Phil Esposito: 1977–78 *Bobby Orr: 1978–79 *Milt Schmidt: 1995–96 *Harry Sinden: 1998–99 *Willie O'Ree: 2002–03 *Ray Bourque: 2002–03 *Cam Neely: 2009–10 Mark Messier Leadership Award *Zdeno Chara: 2010–11 NHL Leading Scorer (prior to awarding of Art Ross Trophy) *Herb Cain: 1943–44 *Bill Cowley: 1940–41 *Milt Schmidt: 1939–40 *Cooney Weiland: 1929–30 NHL Plus-Minus Award *David Krejci: 2008–09 *Zdeno Chara: 2010–11 Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award *Tim Thomas: 2008–09 *Tuukka Rask 2009–10 *Tim Thomas: 2010–11 Vezina Trophy *Tiny Thompson: 1929–30, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1937–38 *Frank Brimsek: 1938–39, 1941–42 *Pete Peeters: 1982–83 *Tim Thomas: 2008–09, 2010–11 William M. Jennings Trophy *Andy Moog & Rejean Lemelin: 1989–90 *Tim Thomas & Manny Fernandez: 2008–09 edit] Team awards The Bruins have several team awards that are traditionally awarded at the last home game of the regular season. *Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy Best player in home games *Seventh Player Award Player performing most beyond expectations *Eddie Shore Award Player with most hustle and determination *John P. Bucyk Award Community service *Bruins Radio Network Three-Star Awards Most three-star selections edit] Franchise individual records *Most goals in a season: Phil Esposito, 76 (1970–71) *Most assists in a season: Bobby Orr, 102 (1970–71) *Most points in a season: Phil Esposito, 152 (1970–71) *Most penalty minutes in a season: Jay Miller, 304 (1987–88) *Lowest goals against average in a season: Frank Brimsek, 1.56, (1938–39) *Most points per game in a season: Bill Cowley, 1.97 (1943–44) *Most points in a season, defenseman: Bobby Orr, 139 (1970–71) *Most points in a season, rookie: Joe Juneau, 102 (1992–93) *Most wins in a season: Pete Peeters, 40 (1982–83) *Most shutouts in a season: Hal Winkler, 15 (1927–28) *Consecutive games streak: John Bucyk, 418 (January 23, 1969 – March 2, 1975) *Longest point scoring streak: Bronco Horvath, 22 games, (1959–60) *Highest save percentage in a season: Tim Thomas, .938 (2010–11) *Longest winning streak by a goaltender, one season: Gilles Gilbert, 17 (1975–76) edit] Leaders edit] Presidents *Charles F. Adams, November 1, 1924–1936 *Weston W. Adams, Sr., 1936–1951 *Walter A. Brown, 1951 – September 1964 *Weston W. Adams, Sr., September 1964 – March 30, 1969 *Weston W. Adams, Jr., March 31, 1969 – September 30, 1975 *Paul A. Mooney, October 1, 1975 – March 24, 1987 *William D. Hassett, Jr, March 24, 1987 – December 1, 1988 *Harry Sinden, December 1, 1988 – August 9, 2006 *Cam Neely, June 16, 2010 – present31 edit] Team captains *No captain, 1924–27 *Lionel Hitchman, 1927–31 *George Owen, 1931–32 *Dit Clapper, 1932–38 *Cooney Weiland, 1938–39 *Dit Clapper, 1939–46 *John Crawford, 1946–50 *Milt Schmidt, 1950–54 *Ed Sandford, 1954–55 *Fernie Flaman, 1955–61 *Don McKenney, 1961–63 *Leo Boivin, 1963–66 *John Bucyk, 1966–67 *No captain, 1967–73 *John Bucyk, 1973–77 *Wayne Cashman, 1977–83 *Terry O'Reilly, 1983–85 *Ray Bourque & Rick Middleton, 1985–88 (co-captains) *Ray Bourque, 1988–2000 *Jason Allison, 2000–01 *No captain, 2001–02 *Joe Thornton, 2002–05 *No captain, 2005–06 *Zdeno Chara, 2006– present edit] General managers For more details on this topic, see List of Boston Bruins general managers.The current general manager is Peter Chiarelli. Chiarelli was hired on May 26, 2006 as the General Manager of the Boston Bruins. He was signed to a four-year contract. Chiarelli was previously the assistant general manager for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators were given a conditional draft pick for relinquishing Chiarelli. On June 19, 2009 Chiarelli received a four-year contract extension through 2013–14. edit] Head coaches For more details on this topic, see List of Boston Bruins head coaches.The current head coach is Claude Julien who was hired on June 22, 2007. On February 17, 2009, Julien coached his 200th winning NHL game, a 5–1 Bruins road game defeat of the Carolina Hurricanes. On June 18, 2009, Julien was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the NHL. edit] Media and broadcasters Main article: List of Boston Bruins broadcasters*'NESN' Jack Edwards: TV play-by-play Andy Brickley: TV color analyst Naoko Funayama: TV rink-side reporter32 *'98.5 The Sports Hub' Dave Goucher: Radio play-by-play Bob Beers: Radio color analyst